Babri mosque demolition: A 'watershed moment'

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On this day 25 years ago, thousands of Hindu nationalist mobs tore down a medieval mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), AL Jazeera reports.

The demolition of the 16th-century Babri mosque, which was constructed under the rule of the first Mughal Emperor Babar, triggered religious riots in parts of India that continued for months. More than 1,000 people were killed, in the worst religious riots since India's independence in 1947.

The tearing down of the mosque and the jubilation of the mobs created a permanent fissure in India's social fabric and instilled fear among India's Muslim minority.